Question Regarding Ticks

Get him tested! Not everyone gets a bulls eye rash. My son had it last summer and it started with an achey shoulder, he id get a very high fever but he also had cellulitis so his high fever was probably having 2 infections at the same time. Lyme disease is nothing to mess around with. My best friend had it it went untreated for along time now she is 30 and can barely get out of bed in the morning because her arthritis is so bad. I'm kind of shocked that the er didn't test the tick. My pedi says to take the tick into the office and it can be tested instead of taking a blood test.

Get him tested, anyway. Lyme disease doesn't always have a rash. It is MUCH better to catch it early and get it treated.

Push for the blood test.

go back on base and tell the doctor to run the test...they should've run the test on the tick when they had it...that would've been the best and easiest solution.

thank your husband for his service and sacrifices...very much appreciated!!!

I hope your son is okay!!

Get the Lyme test. Absence of the "target-shaped" rash does not mean he's free of Lyme. Insist on it. My friend's child had Lyme and was, just like your son, achy etc., and they too though it was a summer cold. Fortunately after she was tested she was put on antibiotics -- be aware, the patient has to be on them for a while -- and she is fine now.

Lyme can also lie dormant, so if he feels better in coming days but was never tested for Lyme and actually has it, it could recur later. It cannot hurt to test him.

I would take him in for testing ASAP. A friend of my parent's son had Lyme, though he hadn't even noticed he had a tick on him. It was diagnosed very late after it was in his brain and took about two years to get under control.

See if you can get one of those bandages that have a local anasthetic on them so the blood test does not hurt. Ii don't know where to get them in your area, but ask around.

I live in Connecticut and Lyme's is very common here. It sounds to me like your son has it. Definitely get a blood test. If you don't treat it with antibiotics it can become a debilitating disease.

YES...YES...YES! GO GET HIM TESTED! My brother never had the bulls eye either but did have lyme disease from his bite- after weeks of the symptoms same as your sons - then bell palsy of his whole right side of his face...the doctor on his visit even commented that they've been seeing more & more people without the bulls eye w/ Lyme. Sorry to say, but don't wait any longer your boy needs to be checked out & on antibiotics to clear this up before it gets worse

I know this is late, but I would get it done. However does not always show
up positive initially.

Yes, get him tested. There's a wide variety of "bulls-eye" and you could have missed it. Lyme is devastating if not treated immediately. Better safe than sorry.

definitely have him tested. lyme's is nothing to mess with...the sooner detected, the better. for piece of mind if anything.

push for the rest, he could have a rash on his head, or maybe the rash just hasnt showed up yet. you cant be to careful and it is just the test, not like he will be on unnecessary medication. the rash could show up anywhere on his body.

Push for the test, but I am not sure how soon the enzymes will show up in the blood stream. However, one word of caution. Make absolute sure your doctor is very familiar with LYME disease. A friend of mine has it and the doctors thought it was gone and cured. He ended up in worse shape because the treatments were wrong and encouraged the virus to spread and grow in his system. Please please please do the research yourself also. I would suggest checking to see if you have a local support group for those affected by the disease, because they will be able to help you find doctors who can actually help.

His was something about the wrong antibiotics I think. It's been three years since he had some of the worst issues, but he has been through hell with it and will never be rid of it.

Please get him tested! We live in Connecticut and my son had it as well. You may or may not get the "typical" bullseye - but with the symptoms you are describing, he sounds like he may have it. The quicker you get him on antibiotics, the better.

One thought that I have is to check with the ER to see if they sent the tick that was removed from your son, to the lab for identification. If this was done, they can then tell you if the tick is of the sort that would cause Lyme Disease, and perhaps this would help your doctor's office decide if a blood test is needed. When I removed a tick from my son's back after a camping trip, the pediatrician asked me to bring it to the office so that it could be sent to the lab for identification, if necessary. Best of luck to you.

Get the test!! It's VERY important to catch Lyme disease ASAP and NJ has a LOT of Lymes disease! Next time save the tick in a baggie or container.

Yes, I think you should push a blood test for Lymes.

Unless he's having some other kind of virus, he shouldn't be having that reaction to a tick bite.

If it's Lymes, it's curable, but you definitely want to get it early. And by the way, most people who have Lymes never saw the bullseye rash.

ST is wrong... sorry. The target shaped rash will appear around the site of the bite. Not anywhere on the body. I would get the test. Just because there is no rash doesn't mean he didn't get Lyme's.

Definitely go for a blood test. Bear in mind, however, that the blood test may show a false negative response. I had Lyme disease years ago (mid 90's) and there was no rash and multiple negative blood test results. But after getting progressively worse for six months, they made a clinical diagnosis based on the extensive symptoms I had. At that point I was put on massive antibiotics for a couple months. Hopefully the blood tests have improved since then to be more accurate. Find a support group online as suggested below and do as much research as you can, but don't wait before getting that blood test. Here in CT, where it's SUCH a problem, the pediatricians do NOT mess around. If there's a known bite and even a hint of illness, they will prescribe antibiotics as a prophylactic measure. Good luck!!

Get the test. A family memeber of mine never has a rash but still had Lyme's. They didn't do the test until a smart doctor finally just ran it to rule it out as a possibility and it showed up.
Good luck!

Take him to a LLMD (Lyme Literate Med Dr.)---or an Infectious Disease doctor. NJ is a "hot bed" for Lyme Disease. No need to see a rash or find a tick---symptoms are telling and HAVE THE DOC GIVE ANTIBIOTICS EVEN IF TEST IS ORIGINALLY NEGATIVE!!!!!!!!!! False results can occur early on----be safe about this---Lyme's is NO joke! Very debilitating!!!!
Prayers for him :)

Absolutely get him tested. Do you know whether the tick was a deer tick (or the type that carries Lyme disease?) My friend is a pediatrician and her son had Lyme disease and wound up in the hospital for weeks with something like spinal meningitis from it. Better safe than sorry. Her son never had the bulls eye rash.

I changed my answer. Take him in and get the test immediately. It's only a test and then you'll know. He'll get over the needle quickly.

Deer ticks that carry Lyme disease are very small, and you would have seen a red ring around the bite area.